It only takes a second!

We were watching three children last night at our house and one of the kids just turned one a few weeks ago.  Even though she is very small and very cute I was reminded of how quickly little ones can end up where they don't belong.  I turned my head for a minute while the little one was crawling around on the floor and then I heard a splashing sound.  There she was on the floor splashing her hands in the dog's water bowl surrounded by a pool of water!   Just before that she had discovered the doggy door out to the back patio.  She didn't seem to understand that she could have crawled out through the door but she seemed to like how the door flapped open.  

My husband and I both came to the conclusion that babies really don't have a clue about social etiquette.  (the seven year old wanted to know what etiquette was)  Babies will let their noses run, speak loudly in indecipherable languages in public places, emit the most unbearable smells and be covered in food and they really aren't bothered a bit about it!  When exactly does that all change?

Loads of Personality!

I survived a week back in the Philadelphia area babysitting my two little nieces.  They are beautiful little girls with an incredible level of intelligence and personality.  I really enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know them a little better.
For someone who doesn't have any children it was somewhat of a culture shock being on duty 24-7 with them.  I had great intentions to get some work done while I was there and was also hoping to get some beautiful photos of the spring colors and green grass.
I was able to take some shots but only got a couple of scenery photos.  The girls gave me lots of opportunity to capture their little personalities on my camera!
One Saturday I was a "soccer aunt" driving from one game to another.  Not sure how moms do that week after week!
I've got tons of stories of being with them for only a week but one of my favorites was as we were driving to a soccer practice the five year old expressed her opinion about soccer.  "I don't want to go to soccer practice, it's stupid!  All you do is run around and kick a ball, it's just stupid!"  Another favorite is on my last day the older one came into the kitchen and gave me a big hug and said, "Aunt Laura, I am so glad you came!"  :-)
I think it's pretty obvious from the photos which one thinks soccer is "stupid"!

Adelaida Cellars

Spent a busy morning yesterday taking canvas prints down from Upscale Resale in Templeton then driving out to beautiful Adelaida Cellars in Paso Robles.  
I put up the new metal prints,  canvas prints and the new greeting cards, in the tasting room.   It was really hot outside when I arrived and the tasting room was nice and cool.  It was just shortly after noon on a Monday morning and the tasting had already begun.  There were a few people there from out of state.  Paso Robles is becoming quite the destination.  One couple was mentioning that they had spent the weekend driving all over the county from Los Osos, Guadalupe and San Simeon and now Paso Robles.  That is a lot to cover in one weekend.  I was just reminded that we live where people come for vacation!

Metal Prints!

I am so excited about the metal prints that I just received!  The images look like they are in HD on metal! 

I forgot to order hanging hardware on them so I had to figure out something on my own.  I didn't want to drill holes in the metal and wasn't sure how I was going to attach hardware to the back of the metal that would be flush against a wall when hung.
I asked an employee at the local big home improvement store if he had any suggestions.  He totally wasn't getting it and an older shopper walked up to us and asked the employee if he had a measuring tape he could use.  The employee said he would have to go and find one for him.  The shopper said, "you run like a bunny and get me a measuring tape and I will help this lady".  Well this home improvement store needs to hire guys like this!  He was totally helpful and had just the right solution!  So I bought some epoxy and hardware and got the hooks installed on the back of the sheet metal today!

Quilts!

Had a great time yesterday photographing one of Rana's amazing quilts for her website. Here is a photo of one called "Rub A Dub".

Shopping

Shopping around right now on the internet for a website that can host my photos for events and portrait shoots so that clients can view them and order them directly. There are quite a few choices (and good ones) out there!
Right now there are three different ones that have caught my attention!
zenfolio, pictage and smugmugpro look like great sites but hopefully I find the right one for me and my clients!

Nice Lunch Break

I got to sit on the beach again this week but it was for a quick lunch break today. I was at Oceano Dunes state park at the place just before the cars can drive on. It was a hazy day and I grabbed my camera with my wide angle lens already on hoping to get some nice shots of the beach. I didn't have my polarizing filter on this time (doesn't fit on my wide-angle lens anyway.) Here are a couple of my shots from the beach.